Tax delinquent land sale scheduled for Pope CountyLITTLE ROCK -- John Thurston, commissioner of state lands, announced that the 2017 auction season will begin in Pope County in early April. The public auction for the sale of tax delinquent land in Pope County will be at the Hughes Community Center, 1000 East Parkway in Russellville at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 4. Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. The commissioner of State Lands offered an online catalog of tax delinquent lands, which conta...

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Courier staff reportsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

RHS competes at Arkansas NSDA district tourneyRussellville High School students on the Student Congress team, World Schools Debate team, and Forensics and Debate team recently competed in the Arkansas National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) Tournament, which is a qualifying tournament for the National Speech and Debate Tournament in June. The three teams competed well with several students being named semi-finalists and national qualifiers. The Student Congress team competed in Cong...

ATU plans 'Mosaic' scholarship benefit for April 28 at John E. Tucker ColiseumArkansas Tech University will host its third annual scholarship benefit dinner on Friday, April 28, at John E. Tucker Coliseum. The theme for the 2017 event, "Mosaic," reflects the variety of ATU students that will be in attendance to share their academic and artistic endeavors through a collection of presentations and performances. A reception will begin at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets for the business attire occasion are $100 ...

HR director terminatedLast July, Donna Ashley was introduced to the Quorum Court as Pope County's first human resources director who would be available to its 265 full-time employees. Seven months later, the Quorum Court's Grievance Committee, which is made up of all the justices of the peace, voted 13-0 to uphold Ashley's March 23 termination. Tuesday's meeting began when JP Doug Skelton was appointed chairman of the Grievance Committee. He told the committee Ashl...

ATU to welcome more than 2,000 participants to band festivalThere are 11 Music for All affiliate regional music festivals scheduled across the United States in 2017, including events in metropolitan areas as large as Atlanta, Chicago and Indianapolis. None of the other 10 festivals attracted a larger number of registered participants than the one that Arkansas Tech University will host from Thursday through Saturday at the Center for the Arts at Russellville High School. More than 2,000 students repres...

Running circles around the schoolThe third annual Fun Run at Crawford for third and fourth grade students took place on March 17. The students practiced in their physical education class two weeks prior to the one-mile run around the school’s campus. Other students at the school lined the race route to cheer on runners as they passed by.

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THE COURIER / SubmittedThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Chamber to host Springtime in Paris SaturdayPARIS — The Paris Chamber of Commerce will be hosting Springtime in Paris from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. According to Tonya Baumgartener, executive director of the chamber, the event comes as one replacement of the Butterfly Festival, an event dating back as far as 2004, which will not take place this year. During Springtime in Paris, the chamber will unveil the Love Lock Fence, much like the one that once was in Paris, France. Visitors a...

AP Explains: What the death of broadband privacy rules meansNEW YORK — Now that both houses of Congress have voted to block Obama-era broadband privacy rules, what does that mean for you? In the short term, not so much. The rules, which would have put tough restrictions on what companies like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T can do with information such as your internet history, hadn't yet gone into effect. So if President Donald Trump signs the measure, as the White House has indicated he will , the status q...

Average gas prices in state seeing dipAverage retail gasoline prices in Arkansas have fallen 1.3 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.05 per gallon Tuesday, according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 1,826 gas outlets in Arkansas. This compares with the national average that has fallen 0.9 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.28 per gallon. Including the change in gas prices in Arkansas during the past week, prices Monday were 18.1 cents per gallon higher than the same ...

Hector FBLA members advance to state leadership conferenceHECTOR -- Hector High School's Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter recently placed 12 students in competitive events at the District V FBLA Spring Leadership Conference held on the University of Central Arkansas campus in Conway. Kyleigh Leavell won first place in spreadsheet applications. Lily Williams won first place in word processing. Logan Smedley won second place in business calculations. Jonah Watkins and Tyler Ellis won s...

Patterson named ACTEC fellowLITTLE ROCK -- Friday, Eldredge and Clark, LLP recently announced attorney Sarah Cotton Patterson has been named a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC). This appointment reflects her deep knowledge of trust and estate planning law and her positive reputation in the legal community. Patterson is a 1993 graduate of Dardanelle High School. Lawyers who are elected as ACTEC Fellows must meet rigorous eligibility criter...

Harris withdraws from 2017 electionFormer Russellville City Council Alderman Richard Harris asked Pope County Clerk Laura McGuire to take his name out of the running for the Ward 1, Position 1 special election April 11. Three candidates for the position remain -- Phyllis Carruth, the wife of former Alderman and Mayor Phil Carruth, Andrew Barrett and Chuck Frankhouse. Harris, who previously served as alderman for Ward 1, Position 2 and decided not to seek re-election in 2016, sa...

Lawsuit against Crow Mountain Fire District dismissedA Pope County Circuit Judge dismissed a civil lawsuit Tuesday against the Crow Mountain Fire District on the grounds that the district's increase in fire dues was not an illegal exaction of funds. Circuit Judge Dennis Sutterfield ruled during a hearing Tuesday inside the Pope County Courthouse that the defendant's request to dismiss the case was granted because this was not a case of illegal exaction, according to attorneys representing the pl...

Arrest made in early morning shootingRussellville police responded to a shooting at approximately 3:08 a.m. on Wednesday. Kathleen N. Likely was arrested after officers responded to 702 Hickory Hollow Lane in reference to a gunshot. Officers made contact with Kathleen N. Likely, 61, who was standing outside the residence with a black male laying on the ground in the garage. Likely, who called 911, told dispatch she had shot a male who was fighting with her. According to the repor...

Children + Books = Dream jobMelanie Goad was recently welcomed into her new position at the Pope County Library as the children’s librarian. She previously worked for two years on the library’s Bookmobile and worked in retail before that. “I worked in retail management for 20 years,” Goad explained. “I decided I wanted to do something more, preferably nonprofit where I could serve the community.” Library director Shawn Pierce said Goad is an incredible employee. “She has...

Elliot steps down from Pottsville City CouncilPOTTSVILLE — The Pottsville City Council received a resignation from an alderman, considered an ordinance and resolution and discussed the illegal dumping in the floodplain during its regular meeting Monday. Alderman Donnie Elliot submitted his resignation as alderman to the council Monday night. Elliot served as an alderman for Ward 2 Position 1. Mayor Jerry Williams said the council will accept the resignation during its April meeting and be...

Your internet browsing habits for sale? House votes to block online privacy ruleWASHINGTON — The House voted Tuesday to block online privacy regulations issued during the final months of the Obama administration, a first step toward allowing internet providers such as Comcast, AT&T and Verizon to sell the browsing habits of their customers. The Federal Communications Commission rule was designed to give consumers greater control over how internet service providers share information. But critics said the rule would have ad...

Amended bill to strengthen dyslexia intervention in schools clears hurdleA bill that would give teeth to a law that requires dyslexia screening and intervention in public schools passed by unanimous voice vote out of the Senate Education Committee Monday. A version of the bill failed to pass last week. That vote was expunged before Sen. Joyce Elliott (D-Little Rock), lead sponsor of Senate Bill 708, presented an amended bill. In 2013 a law was enacted that required school districts to screen all students in kinderg...

Police: Man ran a vehicle off road over mistaken IDChristopher M. Darden, 26, was arrested early Monday after allegedly ramming the vehicle he was driving into another vehicle he mistakenly believed belonged to someone he had recently argued with. According to a police report, police responded to the 1100 block of Murdoch Road in reference to a hit and run. When an officer arrived on scene, the victim told police he had been run off the road by a dark colored Jeep Cherokee. At the same time, a...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
simpson@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Pet treat operation coming to DanvilleDANVILLE -- A family from China will call the former Petit Jean Poultry plant home after it was forced to close six years ago. Whick Stapleton of Chambers Bank said Friday he worked at the plant which was open from 1982 to 2009. Johnny Chambers, who owns the building and property, asked him to get with the new owners from across the globe to familiarize them with the property. When the family opens the plant this summer, it will be known as Pe...